


We should get married

by lillaseptember



Series: Time really moves fast [3]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Explicit Language, F/M, Fluff, Future Fic, Kid Fic, M/M, Weddings, shitty's usual comsumption of marijuana
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-13 07:31:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9112840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lillaseptember/pseuds/lillaseptember
Summary: Jack and Bitty don't get a lot of sleep the night before the wedding.(This isreallynot what you think it is.)





	

“For fuck’s sake, Shits.” 

Jack buried his head into his pillow, only just managing to suppress a groan, the exhaustion from the afternoon’s cardio session throbbing behind his eyes. Shitty had been tossing and turning for what must have been for more than an hour by then, disturbing any chance of peace and quiet Jack could have ever have hoped for, and his patience had long since grown thin. 

A small voice at the back of his head urged him to be grateful that he was at least wearing underwear.

“The wedding’s tomorrow!” Shitty finally exclaimed, flopping onto his back in the middle of the bed, his gangly limbs spreading out all over Jack and Bitty.

Jack took a deep breath before replying, fighting down the other small voice at the back of his head urging him to just fucking murder his best friend right then and there.

“So why, exactly, are you in our bed?”

“Brah! There are _so many_ motherfucking things I could fuck up! What if I fuck up the speech? What if I manage to curse the entire marriage by some pagan bullshit? What if I trip on the Christ fucking altar and demolish the entire fucking venue? Fuck, Lardo would fucking _decapitate_ me if…”

Jack sighed into his pillow again, cursing himself for even _thinking_ of asking. Tomorrow was a big day for them all, and all he _really_ wanted to do was to fall asleep.

“Shits, I _swear to god_ , if you don’t shut up soon I’ll throw your bare ass out on the…”

“Jack!” Bitty immediately chastised him, his bloodshot eyes glaring at him from across Shitty’s sprawled out form.

He had covered the morning shift at the bakery, and had then fussed all day over the assortment of baked goods that had been ordered for tomorrow’s reception. He had not been able to take his usual afternoon nap either, seeing how the kids had all been too excited and/or nervous for anybody’s good and they had all had their hands full the entire night. Jack’s heart ached at the sight, his own exhaustion feeling like a silly trifle in comparison to how tired Bitty must have been.

And yet he somehow still managed to soften his gaze from glaring to comforting as it shifted from husband to friend.

“Shitty, listen to me. Tomorrow’ll go _great_. It’s gonna be one of the happiest and brightest and most beautiful days of all of our lives. We’ll all be there, we all got your back. But you’ve been preparing for this for _years_ , and you’ll do fantastic.”

Bitty fixed him with one of his stubbornly supportive stares, an extension of his unbelievably large heart, a support so strong that even Jack could feel the effects of it. And Shitty just laid looking back at him, his mouth hanging open, speechless, as he allowed Bitty’s words to wash over him.

And then his lower lip started to wobble.

It literally, goddamn _wobbled._

“What would I do without you guys?” He cried as he somehow managed to wrestle them both into a hug, his loud sobs echoing in their dark bedroom. Bitty patted him awkwardly on the back, and Jack ground his teeth as he tried to reason with the angry, bitter voice at the back of his head.

But he recognized that sickly sweet smell as Shitty’s moustache brushed by his cheek.

And it might not have been an accident when he headbutted Shitty as he turned around to face him again.

“Are you _high?_ ”

“Only a little,” Shitty wailed through his tears.

Bitty could only give him a helpless smile from the other side of the bed, and Jack swore under his breath as his head thumped back down on his already battered pillow. And Shitty continued to sob.

After an undetermined amount of time, a restraining embrace from Jack, and _a lot_ more soothing words from Bitty, they had eventually managed to lull him to sleep. Then Bitty had kissed him over their obnoxiously snoring friend, reminded him that this was “hopefully his one and only wedding, right?”, and that they all needed to be supportive of him during this time.

Jack had begrudgingly agreed, trying to settle down at the very edge of his own bed. And he had eventually somehow fallen asleep, in the long since familiar embrace of his best friend.

* * *

He woke up again from the gentle tug on his elbow.

“Papa?”

Rolling to his side, and almost falling flat on his face on the floor in the process, he tried to work through his sleep induced disorientation and pushed up on his elbow.

“‘eah?” He slurred out, trying to blink through his grogginess, his eyes struggling to adjust to the dark.

As they eventually did, they immediately settled on the little girl standing right in front of him. It was Ananta, her unruly hair having escaped his carefully crafted braid and sticking up in all directions, her ragged stuffed monkey hanging limply in her arms, and a scared look in her small eyes.

And the little hope he had had left of a good night's sleep had been thrown straight out the window as his heart seized in his chest at the sight. She had only recently become comfortable enough to call him “papa”, an extension of trust that both Jack and Bitty had worked hard for, and she looked so thoroughly frightened he couldn’t have turned her away even if he had wanted to.

“Nightmare,” she explained in a small voice, hugging the monkey tighter.

“Of course,” he managed to mumble out through his still sleep-hazy mind, silently chastising himself for allowing the kids to get so worked up that evening as he moved to remove the sheets for her to climb into the bed with them. But as he did, he was duly reminded that they already had a bed guest for the night.

He just stopped for a moment. To collect his thought and collect his wits about him again. And looking down at his tiny, little scared daughter while Shitty was snoring at his neck, he just had to sigh to himself. He was too tired for this. _Way_ too tired for this.

“Chérie,” he started as he reached out to gently rub her arm, a familiar gesture of comfort, hoping he didn’t have to explain this _too_ much. “Uncle Shitty’s here.”

“Uncle Shitty?” She just exclaimed while a huge grin immediately illuminated her entire face, and before Jack knew it, she had climbed up into their bed and snuggled into Shitty’s side, stepping on Jack’s groin on the way.

Shitty had stirred slightly as Ana climbed on top of him, mumbled something about “baby girl” before hugging her tighter, and then they had both promptly fallen asleep again, Jack just staring at them in disbelief.

He allowed himself another deep sigh, trying to temper his temperament, before he shimmied into the crowded bed again, too afraid of being pushed out to be fully comfortable. Bitty had woken up on the other side of the bed by the commotion, turning over to offer him a fond look before he reached out to gently stroke the arm of their sweetly snoring daughter. Then he contently snuggled down at Shitty’s side again.

And Jack could only fall back against his pillows, saying his prayers.

* * *

They had to fetch Josué at 3 in the morning, and he had fitted snugly right between Bitty and Shitty. But despite all the constant interruptions and the overcrowded bed and the crippling fear of being pushed onto the floor, it had, somehow, maybe been the best night of sleep Jack had ever had.

And Shitty, as obviously nervous as he was, pacing and fiddling up by the altar, had never looked so well rested as the Bittles slowly made their way through the wedding procession.

Bitty was herding Karim in front of him, instructing the young boy how to best weave through the chaos of people, Josué hitched on his hip, while Jack had a tight hold of Ananta’s hand. The little girl was tripping over her own feet, pressed close to Jack’s side, and he was genuinely terrified that she would get trampled at any given moment. 

He would have been able to carry her, like Bitty was carrying Josué, especially considering how Ana wasn’t that much bigger than her younger brother. But a 6-year old had entirely too much pride to allow her papa to carry her around, _especially_ in such a public setting. So Jack had to settle on clutching onto her hand, trying to shield her from the worst throng of people and glancing down at her every two seconds, making sure that the crowd didn’t sweep her away.

The wedding was an outdoors affair, wooden benches lining the makeshift aisle and the late summer sun filtering through the many trees surrounding them, turning the scenery into a very charming scene. But all the open space was also an open invitation for people to move about as much as they possibly could. Catching up with old friends, mingling with new acquaintances, and dashing to and fro just because they _could_. All very pleasant for the people currently engaged in the activities. But also all very annoying for people, like the Bittles, with a specific destination in mind.

Jack was just on the verge of giving up, scooping all the kids, and probably Bitty too, up into his arms and suggesting that they should just settle for the seats at the very back instead. But then Bitty somehow spied Lardo in the midst of all strangers, and managed to shuffle them all up to her.

“Lards, you look gorgeous,” he said while kissing her cheek, hitching Josué higher up on his hip, the boy immediately reaching out for his favorite aunt, who joyfully embraced him. Lardo was wearing a simple circle dress, cut just above her knees and with a lace bodice. Her hair was plainly pinned back, and there was a pure joy in her eyes, and she looked simply _gorgeous_.

“Thanks,” she said with an easy smile, before returning the compliment, crouching down to pay extra good attention to Ana’s braids. Then she turned to Karim, and smiled softly before she punched him lightly on the shoulder. “Hey bud. Your first wedding?”

“Yeah,” he answered, only a little breathlessly, still somewhat awestruck with the entire concept of Lardo. Karim had only been staying with them for a few months, and was still trying to find his own place in this very weird family of theirs, but Jack was glad to say that they were all slowly figuring things out. 

“Don’t worry,” Lardo said with that easygoing nonchalance of hers. “They’re not as spectacular as people make them out to be.” But then she paused as she evaluated her own words. “This one could be interesting though.”

And then she shared a knowing smile with Jack and Bitty.

“You think he’s going to faint?” Jack asked with a worried glance up at Shitty, who had taken to wildly gesticulating while talking to himself, but Lardo just grinned.

“Nah, but he’s _going_ to bawl.”

“And you’re not?” Bitty asked with a brilliant smile.

“Bro, _I’m_ not the sentimental one in this relationship.”

That had Bitty breaking out into his tinkling laughter, and their conversation turned considerably more trouble-free after that. Ana climbed on top of a bench to get a better view of the entire spectacle around them, Karim took a seat and relieved his dad and Lardo of his baby brother, while Jack just took a moment to inspect his surroundings. He saw the frogs standing a few seats down, Dex and Nursey visibly arguing, their own newly minted engagement rings glinting in the afternoon sun, while Mr. and Mrs. Farmer just stood making heart eyes at each other. The grooms parents were standing up by the aisle, beaming from happiness, and the sight made the stress from the night and morning slowly slip from Jack’s shoulders.

He loved weddings, after all. It was a time to celebrate love and joy, and to share it with all those who was beloved to you. He could feel himself slowly starting to smile to himself as those emotions washed over him, pulling Bitty closer and watching his children as they were giggling to themselves, happiness swelling in his heart. And that feeling was cemented in his chest as Lardo smiled down the aisle.

“Here they come.”

Jack turned just in time to see Ransom and Holster walk onto the path that had been cleared for them, side by side; shoulder to shoulder; hand in hand. 

The assembly quickly erupted in cheers and applause as they slowly made their way down the aisle, and Jack had to give Holster credit for only pausing _once_ to give a dramatic bow, Ransom just rolling his eyes at him fondly. Shitty mouthed “ _Brahs_ ” as they made their way up to him by the altar, tears already threatening to well over, and Lardo gave him a knowing smirk.

Shitty took an apparent breath in an attempt to collect himself, but Jack thought he could still see his hands shake from several seats away. But his smile was genuine as he inspected the two men standing in front of him.

“Justin Oluransi. Adam Birkholtz. We are all gathered here today to share your union in civil brahtrimony. _Fuck_.” 

Shitty swearing was a long ago ingrained gut reaction, not outruled even in the most formal of settings, and Jack really wasn’t surprised as he watched his best friend’s eyes blow wide in panic, self conscious in a way he usually never was under the scrutiny of hundreds of expectant eyes. “I mean - Shit. Matrimony. _Matrimony._ ”

A light laugh rippled through the crowd, and Shitty himself laughed nervously, a high pitched and broken little thing that Jack hadn’t heard in many, _many_ years. But Ransom and Holster just continued to glow as they stood together side by side, apparently caught up in their own little impenetrable bubble, and Jack could remember what that felt like.

“Bro, I’d _totally_ join you in holy brahtrimony.”

“Same, bro. _Same_.”

They shared a warm smile before leaning in for a quick peck, lips barely brushing before Shitty had bodily thrown himself between them in order to break them up.

“Hey, no smooching before I say so!”

The three of them just stood caught up in a weird embrace for a long, quiet moment. But the entire scene was so reminiscent of the good old Haus days that Jack couldn’t contain the laugh breaking out of his chest, only just being able to bite back the chirp balancing on the tip of his tongue. Bitty and Lardo had similar reactions, Bitty mumbling out a “Good lord” around a chuckle, Lardo laughing merrily. And it was not long before the entire gathering had followed suit, everyone laughing without restraint and the tension tangibly easing.

After that, Shitty quickly grew into his role, the rest of the ceremony continuing without a hitch. And he only visibly teared up again as he concluded with; “And you may now kiss your brah.”

Holster actually, literally lifted Ransom off the ground, and they all broke out into cheers again.

And the Birkholtz-Oluransi wedding might just have been the most spectacular wedding Jack had ever attended.

**Author's Note:**

> I… Don’t know?? This _happened._ I have no other comment.
> 
> (But also, I edited this after watching the SweFin game at World Juniors. I disclaim myself from any and all typos and general confusion.)


End file.
